How long before we can use environmental vibrations to charge our portable electronics?

Answers

In theory, if you were creative enough and had the right skills, you could do it now. There are many designs for piezoelectric shoes, mats, snowboard bindings, etc. on the Internet, or you could create your own. A piezoelectric is a material with properties such that when it is compressed, an electric current is induced. Trevor Baylis, inventor of the hand-crank radio, used a piezoelectric shoe to charge a cell phone from which he called Richard Branson from the African desert. Realistically, however, it will probably be a long time before we can expect vibrational energy harvesting as a common source of energy. There are many problems, such as cost and effective energy storage.